At first, one fish seems oblivious to the man's presence, swimming by as he cleans the tank.

But then one shark decides to get inquistive.

However, rather than fearing for his safety, the man breaks off from his work to embrace the leopard shark .

The animal, who appears to be smiling, then moves in under the man's arm to get into a better position for a belly rub.

Shark gets a belly-rub (Image: YouTube)

Acting more like a dog than a beast of the sea, the shark then rolls onto its back and relaxes as the man continues to tickle its belly.

The film, which has caused waves since it was uploaded to YouTube earlier this week, is believed to have been captured in at the Aqarium des Lagons on the island of New Caledonia in the south west Pacific.

Leopard sharks are a species of the houndshark and in the wild pose no real threat to humans because they have small teeth and mouths. Their prey is generally bony fish, shrimp and crabs.